7 hours Ago By Matthew Neschis
St. Francis (Pa.) has punched its ticket to the Big Dance after securing a shocking upset victory over Central Connecticut State in the Northeastern Conference tournament championship.
On Tuesday, the Red Flash earned just their second visit to the NCAA tournament in program history by knocking off the top-seeded Blue Devils, 46-43. According to ESPN , St. Francis is the first team to win its conference tournament championship game despite scoring less than 50 points since Georgia State, who defeated Georgia Southern 38-36 in the 2015 Sun Belt final.
Prior to tipoff, Central Connecticut State (25-7) was an 11-point favorite against St. Francis (16-17), having beaten them in each of their last five matchups - including twice this year by a total of 31 points. Though it wasn’t pretty, the Red Flash – led by freshman Juan Cranford Jr.
– gritted out a gutsy win, marking just their second conference tournament title and first since 1991. With just under 20 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and the Blue Devils down by two, senior guard Joe Ostrowsky drove hard to the basket and snuck a layup past an outstretched defender’s hand to tie the contest at 43 apiece. St.
Francis’ Daemar Kelly swiftly returned the favor, however, sprinting down the court before hitting a step-back mid-range shot with nine seconds left. After corralling a loose ball and getting fouled on the ensuing possession, Red Flash guard Chris Moncrief made one of his two free throw attempts to seal the game. Tuesday’s nail-biting finish was hardly the first time this year that a St.
Francis game has come down to the wire, as five of their last six wins to close out the season were decided by five points or less. “A few months ago we ..
. spoke about we need to win the close games, and then once we win those close games we've got to start blowing teams out. Every single game this season has been within five to 10 points, so it's just stay with our plan and execute down the stretch,” said Riley Parker, who finished with six points, two rebounds and two assists.
“Within four minutes to go coach said to us, ‘This is where we want to be.’ We've done this the past six games in a row now, and we have the most experience in those clutch games, so I was very confident in my team.” Speaking to reporters during a postgame press conference, Central Connecticut State Patrick Sellers expressed hope that the Blue Devils would receive an invite to compete in the NIT - but acknowledged that their recent loss was a tough pill to swallow.
“Obviously, it's a tough spot. I don't know if we're gonna have a chance at the NIT or not,” he said. “It's gonna take a while for guys just to get over this bad taste.
If we have more basketball - once you get back on the court and they start playing again - that'll get that taste out of their mouth. “But if you don't, the season ends like that, it's a tough way to end the season. And you go home with the jerseys up, and it's really hard.
So it's gonna take a while to get over that.”.
